Does your WeBoost work?

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Mike.C

Active member
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Posts
29
Location
Rockville, MD
I installed my WeBoost 4G-X Drive a couple years ago, tested it, found it didn't seem to work, then wound up with a Jetpack that functioned perfectly for the places we went. Accordingly, I ignored the WB for a while. But this year, the Jetpack's history, and I got curious about what the WeBoost could do for me.
  1. First, I double-checked all connections. The receiver's mounted on a rail on the roof of our truck camper (about 12.5' up).
  2. I used both an ATT and a Verizon iPhone. I tested both phones at home with their wifi turned off, and noted their cell signal strength. I used the updated field test protocols here. I know we're in a good ATT area but a weak Verizon one, and the results bore that out.
  3. Then, we went boondocking in a field about 1/4 mile from any good cell signal. That is, both phones got a good signal at the entrance to the field. When we got to our cell-deprived destination, I tested the phones again (clearing previous results). Both returned -109 or -100, which is about as much cell signal as you get from your dog or maybe your toaster.
  4. I turned on the WeBoost and placed the interior antenna on a central, metallic location: the camper's (closed) rangetop lid. I re-checked all connections.
  5. I cleared previous results and retested both phones. The results were exactly the same as before: all the cell signal of a wrench or a bottle of beer.
At this point I'm just about ready to trash the system, since it can't amplify either provider's signal very near where the normal signal ends. The dog, toaster, wrench and bottle of beer all return a lot more value for their weight. But WeBoost has been in business for years though, so they must do something right.

Er...right...?
 
I don't know much about a WeBoost, but so very often people ignore the most important item in radio performance -- the antenna, its type, location and positioning are all important factors. So if it's an antenna that sits inside the RV, you may need to put it near a window, or at least position it to get a better signal, or even point it a different direction. If it's an external antenna, pointing a different direction, raising it, even changing position to miss trees or buildings might work.
 
My WeBoost works. I camp in some places with very little to no service without the WeBoost. I have a directional antenna on 20 feet of pipe that I aim to a tower. I can go from -110 to -90 signal.
it has alowed me to at least have texting capabilities.
 
Last year I installed a MIMO (Multiple In, Multiple Out) Yagi directional antenna pair on top of our Sensar OTA TV antenna. So far it has out performed the $600 Max Amp cell signal booster we had been using that replaced and out performed a WeBoost Drive booster. The dual antenna setup was about $150.
 

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I have said this many times, but it bears repeating. Any booster will increase your ability to reach a distant antenna tower. But unless you improve the ability of your phone, router, or whatever to hear the response from the distant tower, it won't matter much. Just as others have already stated, get an exterior antenna, and the higher the better.

I have just a 6' push up pole mounted to the ladder on the back of the rig with a Sure Call omni directional antenna on it that I raise in weak signal areas. It will often double the results of my Speed Test app. And use the shortest, heaviest connecting cable you can to minimize signal loss. Improving signal reception is about way more than just plugging into a power booster.
 

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Mike C says his Weboost receiver is mounted 12.5 ft up on top of his truck camper, so he has a decent receive/transmit antenna. Higher is almost always better, though. However, he did not mention whether his Weboost has the directional or the omni antenna. Nor did he mention which Weboost model he has or the inside antenna type. The models made for use in cars have very a limited inside antenna that don't provide much coverage inside an RV. An RV is better served by a home-office type booster.

The basic fact, though, is that boosters can't fix any & all reception problems. Signal strength is only one aspect of reception quality, so the signal dB or bars doesn't necessarily mean much. For example, a reflected or intermittent signal probably won't get through regardless of its apparent strength. A strong signal that disappears or changes direction every few seconds is still useless.

Also, the signal inside the RV doesn't need to be super-strong - the phone or cell modem only needs enough signal to reach the inside antenna. Once the inside antenna is in communication with the phone, it relays the data to/from the outside antenna via the amplifier. The purpose of the amplifier is two-fold:
  1. Boost the signal traveling outward from the outside antenna, so it can reach a far-away cell tower.
  2. Process and extract useful data from the weak incoming signal present at the outside antenna
I note that Mike C's test involved a location where a good quality signal disappeared over a mere 1/4 distance. That tells me the reception problem isn't caused by distance from the tower; instead it must be a blocked or directionally reflected signal. No booster can fix that.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone! At the time I bought it, the 4G-X Drive was recommended for truck camping. It's already obsolete apparently. I need to think about how much to invest, again, into different piece of kit, and, I guess, a telescoping pole of some kind.
 
I've carried Wilson/WeBoost units for years but haven't found all that many places where they helped. Most of the problem areas we encountered were blocked signals, reflected signals or simply overloaded towers (too many competing users). Only once in a while were we simply at the fringes of the tower coverage, where the only thing needed was a boost (amplification) of signal strength. However, I've had some success moving the external antenna around the site and/or raising it higher.

The 4G-X would not be my first choice for an RV, at lest not a larger one. It has one of those short range inside antennas I mentioned previously. I had an earlier, similar model from Wilson and found that I had to be within a foot or so of the inside antenna to get any signal at all. They are designed with short range inside antennas because it is hard in a car or pickup to get the required separation between the outside and inside antennas. That might apply to your camper too.

Does your Jetpack have a port for an auxiliary antenna? Mine did and I found that adding that antenna was often enough to get it going.
 
Thanks Gary, the RV is a truck camper, so much smaller than most. We typically had the inside antenna on the range lid about 3' from where we were working. I don't have the Jetpack any more.
 
I've had the WeBoost Drive 4G-X for 5 or 6 years. For me it works great BUT ONLY if the cellular device is either right on top of or at most a few inches away from the indoor antenna.

If you're expecting it to boost your cellular reception 3 or more feet away you will be disappointed.

We use ours in places where our Jetpack/Mifi device is straining to get a decent signal but we place the jetpack/MiFi directly on top of the indoor antenna.
 
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